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Nuclear Transfer Breakthrough Offers A Way To Prevent Mitochondrial Disorders

This was not unexpected based on previous research on mice and monkeys, he added. But for the clinical translation of this technique, one would want to know whether the observations made with animal cells would also hold for human cells. This was a key missing piece of the puzzle that had not been revealed in any previous studies.

“This is an important discovery,” said Susan L. Solomon, the CEO of the NYSCF. “We very much hope this will translate into a prevention for thousands of people who would otherwise inherit mitochondrial disease every year.”

Only last year, she said, Egli and Paull and their colleagues demonstrated that the nuclear transfer of eggs cells could generate patient-specific stem cell lines for potential cell replacement therapy to treat diseases like diabetes.

“Our next steps include further research to firmly establish the safety of this approach,” said Egli. “And we will also contact the FDA to determine the best path to translate this to the clinic.”

A public discussion of this technique is also very important, he said.

According to Solomon, forty full time researchers work at NYSCF, which functions as a non-profit biotech. The focus is entirely on patients and the cures and treatments that will help them. Funding is mostly by private donations but the foundation also receives support from New York state Stem Cell Science.

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This could be an important development for fighting the aging process as well. Even if you’re healthy, mitochondrial defects also accumulate over your lifetime, gradually crippling the energy production of your cells. I read somewhere that the cells of a 70-year old man have 1/3 the energy output of a teenager. Imagine if nuclei from an aged person’s cells could be transferred into younger stem cells with healthier mitochondria. Those stem cells could be reimplanted back into the elderly person, where they could grow as younger healthier tissue. In this way, perhaps some parts of an elderly person’s body could be made younger and healthier again.

Hey, aging is a disorder too, and just about everybody suffers from it. So it’s worth finding a cure.

My understanding from the paper (quoted below) is that, even though one or two of the organelles from the original egg can carry over in the transfer process, they’re outnumbered by the hundreds of mtDNA in the ‘new’ host cell.

“MitochondrialDNA transferred with the nuclear genome was initially detected at levels below 1%, decreasing in blastocysts and stem-cell lines to undetectable levels, and remained undetectable after passaging for more than one year, clonal expansion, differentiation into neurons, cardiomyocytes or b-cells, and after cellular reprogramming.”

I would even point out that there are other species whose mitochondria are believed to be superior and more efficient than our own — whales, birds, and even tortoises. Perhaps it might be worth trying to get hold of some of these better mitochondria and transfer some human nuclear DNA to share a cell with them. We might be able to come up with human tissue that produces energy more efficiently, while having a much longer lifespan than regular human cells.

I think it would be great if human beings could live to 200 years or more. It would allow people to get a lot more accomplished in their lifetimes.